Second Contact
by iBlewupthemoon
Summary: 20 years after the two entered the gate and never came back, their spirits live on as two pilots discover a new Strelizia deep underground as enemies both old and new emerge.
1. The Legend Reawakens

"What'cha reading, Ruth?"

She got flustered. "Mind your business, Akio!" she said, nearly smashing him with the book. "I found this in the library before we left for the mission."

"Ah, so Ruth's into picture books for little children, I see?"

"I liked the pictures," she said, embarrassed

A girl with long dark brown twintails chimed in, "Oh, 'The Beast and the Prince'. Read the crap out of that when I was a kid. That book was way too dark for four-year-old me. But I liked it. At least it doesn't throw in aliens three quarters of the way in like some of the old cartoons the Historical Society has dug up."

"Now I see why Satomi turned out the way she did."

"You know, you really need to shut the hell up, Akio," Satomi replied.

"Fine. I'll go read something for grown-ass men," he said before sitting down away from them and reading his manga.

Satomi sat down next to Ruth. "What's on your mind?" Satomi asked.

"Nothing, I just have a bad feeling about this upcoming mission."

"Don't fret. Squad 00 is the "best of the best". We three rank among the top ten HATM pilots (even though Akio doesn't always act like it). What's the worst that can happen?"

"Every time you say that, it makes me worry the worst _will_ happen."

"Fair point."

They were approaching the mountain. Ruth, Satomi, and Akio stood up as the captain appeared to address them. "You three will be working alongside Weapons Development for this mission. We are searching for a strange signal that our scanners found in there. Klaxosaur activity that hasn't been seen for 20 years in this mountain, since the princess that lived there perished when VIRM made First Contact, has been detected. It may prove useful for Weapons Development, and they're sending us to help make sure this goes smoothly, or clean up if it doesn't."

"Captain Mitsuru?" Akio asked. "Is it true that Weapons Development has a klaxo sapien among their ranks?"

Mitsuru sighed, "Weapons Development is very tight-lipped about their staff, but it's very unlikely. The last two klaxo sapiens were the princess and her clone, Zero Two. The princess, as I said, died, and Zero Two likely died along with with Hiro when they took out the VIRM planet. If there is, _please_ don't provoke it. Both of the ones I were aware of had a hair-trigger temper."

"But I'm sure he will…" Satomi muttered.

When they arrived on the base of the mountain. They were greeted by a group from Weapons Development. While Squad 00 was in their HATM uniforms, the Weapons Development group were well-dressed in coats and hats. Several of them struck him as interesting. In particular, a young boy likely around her age with piercing blue eyes and silver hair standing next to his custom HATM. Unlike the hair of some of the veterans who were rapidly aged by the Franxx, his was more supernatural.

The three got into their HATM's and booted them up. Unlike their predecessors, the Franxx, the Hydrogen-Powered All-Terrain Mech was designed to rival its output with a single pilot more efficiently. They ended up being more bulky-looking but still managed to incorporate a humanoid figure, albeit more ambiguous in its appearance.

Mitsuru chimed in their group com. "You three will be joined by a pilot from Weapons Development. Good luck. We're all counting on you."

They began the trip down the lift. "So…" said Akio. "You got a name, WD guy?"

Silence

"Okay…" Akio replied.

"I'm just a friend," the boy from Weapons Development said.

"Wow, really helpful," said Akio

"Akio! He's obviously shy." Satomi replied.

"Well, excuse me," Akio retorted.

They reached the surface of the mountain.

"I expected this to be a lot more volcanic," said Akio.

"It's filled to the brim with hardened magma energy. It used to be filled to the brim with klaxosaurs until the princess's death" said the boy.

"Neat," Akio crassly replied.

They reached an intersection in the cave. "Well, Ruth, where should we go?" asked Satomi

She checked her scanner. "The frequency we were given seems to come from either. Let's split up. Akio, go with Satomi."

"Dammit," Satomi muttered off the mic.

"I'll go with our friend from Weapons Development."

They split, with Ruth and the boy going in one direction and Akio and Satomi begrudgingly going in the other.

They went a ways into the cave searching for the signal they were told to look for.

"You see anything, commander?" the boy asked, shining his light on nearly every surface in that part of the cave.

"No. I'm beginning to wonder if Weapons Development was right about this."

"WD was adamant we look for it. They think it might be more technology we can use."

"Well, I'm not seeing anything," said Ruth "And we're getting close to a dead end. We may need to meet back up with Satomi and Akio and help them out."

Shortly after she said that they felt a great quake.

"What the…" the boy exclaimed.

Suddenly, from the ceiling, several mechanical beings glowing purple similar to the HATM appeared.

"It can't be," the boy said as he brandished a lance and attacked the beings. He took out multiple of them and Ruth provided cover fire with her rifle.

They began surrounding them to the point they struggled to take them on.

"What the heck are these!?" asked a panicked Ruth.

"They may be VIRM: The alien collective that attacked Earth twenty years ago. But that's impossible! They were destroyed!"

"Could this be what Weapons Development was sensing?"

"No. It was specifically klaxosaur-related."

They kept fighting off the horde of creatures. Despite the boy being able to take out multiple enemies with his lance at once, they kept coming. Meanwhile, Ruth struggled to take them out too, especially as both her ammo and hydrogen cell were running dry.

"I'm running empty. Have a contingency plan?" asked Ruth

"Yes. But you ain't gonna like it. Let's just say set shields to full and buckle your seatbelt," he replied.

"Give it all you got."

He slammed the ground with his lance, shattering both it and the ground below, sending both the supposed VIRM and both of them falling down.

* * *

"Ruth? Weird guy? Ruth!?" Akio kept calling on the radio.

"I doubt our friend will respond to 'weird guy'" Satomi replied.

"Well, our search for them is not going well," said Akio. "Hopefully they aren't…"

Recounting the path Ruth and the boy took, they finally found the hole he made.

"Oh no," said Akio.

"What is it? What's going on?" Mitsuru chimed in.

"I think we may need to terminate the mission," Akio replied.

* * *

Ruth finally woke up. She clenched against her aching head. Hopefully, she didn't get a concussion. She tried to boot up her HATM to no effect. If it wasn't destroyed, the fuel cell had been depleted from using the shield.

She tried the emergency release for the door. It was jammed. "Great. What a place to die in. A dinosaur cave with no dinosaurs."

Shortly after she heard a muffled gunshot and covered her ears. The boy had opened the exit door. His coat was torn, revealing his blue HATM suit underneath. He had taken off his hat, revealing a pair of distinct teal horns coming out of his silver hair, matching the accents surrounding his eyes she just noticed. He had some blood from his forehead but otherwise looked okay.

" _Akio was right all along…_ " Ruth thought, staring at him.

"It's all right, I won't hurt you," he hastily said. "I'm thinking about hurting that Akio guy, but that's another time"

"It's not that I'm scared. It's just that no one has seen your kind for many years."

"Well, you're looking at one right now, darling," he said sarcastically.

He reached his hand out and helped her out of the cockpit.

"It doesn't look like the VIRM were as lucky," the boy said "Thank god Naomi really worked the crap out of those shields."

"You know my mother?"

"She used to be the head of Weapons Development before major restructuring. Good friend of mine. Is she your mother?"

"Adopted. She was hankering for a child of her own and this little orphan came into her life."

"Sorry to bring that up."

"No, don't mention it," Ruth replied. They went a ways away from the wreckage and she added. "So…do you actually have a name?"

"If I do, I was never given it. I was always referred to as Subject 1."

"Yuji, then."

"That'll work," Yuji replied.

Ruth pulled out a PDA from her back pocket to try and look for an exit. "Dang it. No signal."

"Let's start looking the hard way" Yuji said. He then heard noises from his left. "Shit. There's probably still VIRM looking for us. Let's go!"

They ran as fast as they could down the other way. They were beginning to run out of breath. "We're royally screwed," he said. "I doubt we will be able to take them on."

"I'm used to that feeling…" she replied.

They noticed a bright glow from the end of the corridor. At the end housed none other than a Franxx! And not just any unit, but the unit thought to be long gone – Strelizia!

"Impossible!" Ruth said.

"It must have been recreated or something. It was thought to be destroyed 18 years ago," Yuji added. "That may be our ticket out of here."

"But how?"

"Our suits are cross-compatible. Your back pockets can be converted into the necessary equipment for a pistil. Naomi thought of everything. She's even thrown the idea, before she left, of a two-person model like a Franxx, but less complicated or…compromising."

They climbed up the rocks that conveniently led to the cockpit.

"The big thing is we need to be able to sync up. Since we've only known each other for a couple hours, it's gonna be a crapshoot," said Yuji

"Oh, great. I'm gonna have to to 'assume the position' aren't I?" Ruth inquired

"Blame Dr. Frank, he designed it."

She pressed a button on the suit and prepared herself. As Yuji said, the pockets turned into the proper controls. She looked surprised as he grasped her hand, "We'll make it out alive. I promise," Yuji said, releasing her hand. "First connection always is the most awkward. Hold tight."

He pressed a button on the controls and the displays on her suit activated. She saw convoluted images of Yuji flash before her and nearly yelped.

"You alright, Ruth?"

"I wanna go back in time and murder that German pervert myself!"

"Paracapacity is actually good! We got it working!" said Yuji "Oh crap!" he exclaimed as the displays showed more monsters closing in.

"I see it!" said Ruth. "More VIRM!"

Yuji fumbled a bit with controls.

"If anything happens. I wanna say thanks," Ruth said

"No problem. Let's tear some aliens, darling!"

"Please don't call me that…"

"Whatever…", Yuji said before charging headfirst into the horde.

* * *

The squad had exited out an entrance on the map. Mitsuru had his face buried in his hands in frustration.

Meanwhile Akio was paying his "respects", "Ruth didn't deserve it. We paid little thought to our commander in the past and now she rests with God or whoever. That guy from WD – we didn't know him. But he was cool, I guess, may he rest in peace."

Satomi tried talking to Mitsuru. "So what happens now?"

"Weapons Development is discussing it. I don't know if they will pull out over just losing Subject 1. There's also a chance they may be alive, but it's low."

They heard cries coming out of the cave. A massive four-legged VIRM creature crashed out the wall.

"Oh no." said Mitsuru. "It can't be. Get to your HATMs and let's get the hell out of here!"

"There's no time. We're done for!" Akio exclaimed

Then, all of a sudden. Strelizia erupted from the ground right below the monster and pierced it with its lance.

"Impossible," said Mitsuru. "After 20 years, the legend has come back to life."

Strelizia launched the beast up into the sky with it. Eventually Strelizia got above the monster as it began its descent. Yuji exclaimed "You're finished!" as he fired an explosive charge straight through, making it burst into purple raindrops.

Strelizia made a dramatic landing on the ground and Ruth and Yuji emerged from the cockpit, accompanied by cheering applause from the squad and Weapons Development.

A new story had begun.


	2. Paragon's First Strike

Ruth woke up in a hospital bed, questioning whether or not the events of the day before were some elaborate dream.

"Good morning. You're awake just in time for me to run some tests."

"I'm confused. For what?"

"Remember? You were the first to pilot a Franxx in 18 years. Between that and being the first naturally born human to pilot it, we need to make sure your vitals are normal. Not to mention piloting with a klaxo sapien have shown adverse effects on a human with the admittedly limited research we have."

Ruth nodded. " _So that was real…_ " she thought.

* * *

Yuji entered the room. Naomi was sitting at her desk next to a white board filled with calculations for God-knows-what. She was currently futzing with her mechanical arm with a cup of coffee sitting on her desk.

"Oh. Hey, One. Long time, no see!" she said. "So, you actually piloted that thing with Ruth."

"Right..."

"You're lucky. I was never able to pilot a Franxx, especially not after I lost my arm. Became one hell of a HATM pilot though, owing to the fact that I designed them," she added. "Coffee?"

"No thanks."

"Oh, right. I forgot. Sweet tooth," she replied before pulling a bottle of cola from the fridge and giving it to him.

"Speaking of your genes, check this out," she said, pulling up some data from her desktop. It showed a variety of charts and graphs of various pilots' flight history. "This is the effects of when Hiro and Zero Two piloted…and compare that to the data from your last run"

"No sign of mutation." Yuji replied. "Maybe the effect only occurs when the pistil is a sapien…"

"Or maybe your unique genes cause a sort of cancel-out effect, slowing the process down. We still don't know what would happen if you truly pushed Strelizia to its limit. You were fairly aggressive in your assault but not quite to the extent Zero Two apparently liked it."

"So, what are we gonna do about the power source?" Yuji asked.

"That's true. As strong as Strelizia is, its core is obselete tech," Naomi replied. "Tell you what. Give me a few days- no, hours, and I'll construct a proper hydrogen power supply for a Franxx."

"What would anyone do without you?"

"A hell of a lot considering I was under stasis for several months after my accident."

"Fair enough," Yuji replied before grabbing a lollipop from her container.

"Take all of them, One," she commented.

"She actually gave a proper name – Yuji."

"Beautiful. Both of you remind me a whole lot of Hiro. Though you for more obvious reasons." Naomi replied. "It's a shame I never got to see him again."

He put his hand over her shoulder. "Take care of yourself, Naomi."

* * *

"Man, I hate these barracks near the mountain. It's always way too cold," exclaimed Akio.

"Quit being such a big baby," Satomi replied while reading a novel.

"I'm just saying. The Toyama base is first class. Here, it's like they slapped it together. And the wi-fi is garbage"

"I personally like the remote location."

"Yeah," he snarked "Because you're boring."

"I heard that."

Mitsuru entered in the common room. "We have a transfer from Weapons Development into the squad. This is-"

"Yuji," he said as he entered with Ruth, putting another lollipop in his mouth.

"I _told you_ there was a klaxo sapien in Weapons Development!" Akio blurted out.

"You were also told not to _provoke_ a klaxo sapien." Satomi added

"Provoke? What are you talking about?" Akio replied

Yuji was glaring at him and Akio chuckled nervously.

Yuji went to his room to unpack his bags.

While he was doing that, Akio came in. "Oh, hey! I guess we're sharing a room!"

Yuji paid him no mind. Akio continued, "Y'know, I didn't mean to offend you or anything earlier. It's just…I always thought people like you and Zero Two are just so cool and mysterious and…exotic…"

"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?" Yuji replied.

"I lost count…" Akio replied. They spent the next several minutes in awkward silence.

* * *

Meanwhile, Satomi and Ruth were chatting in the other bedroom.

"I'm surprised you and Yuji were able to sync up," Satomi said.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. He seems kinda intimidating."

"He's pretty nice, though. You know, once you get to know him."

"Now that I think about it… He's kinda cute."

"A minute ago you said he was intimidating."

"It's the whole mysterious cool vibe he gives off. I can't decide whether I should be scared of him or jealous of you."

"It's sounding like you're both."

"Yeah. You got him for a partner, while the closest thing I got is Akio," Satomi replied as they started to burst out laughing.

* * *

Everyone later went to the dining room to get dinner.

"Thank God Kokoro was here to do cooking," said Akio "This makes our living situation 100 times better."

"You should have been here when Futoshi cooked for us, Yuji." Satomi added. "He's even better."

"I wouldn't argue," he replied.

As a server delivered the dessert: strawberry shortcake, Satomi asked "So, Ruth. I almost forgot. How was it like to pilot a Franxx?"

"It was surreal," Ruth replied. "We were simultaneously controlling the unit at the same time. It was initially awkward with how the dang thing is operated. But I got used to it fairly quickly considering the HATM were heavily based off the Franxx."

By the time she finished talking, Yuji was already done with his dessert and requested seconds, much to the shock of the squad. Right as his seconds were delivered, an announcement:

" _All Squad 00 members. Please report to the operation room immediately. This is not a drill._ "

They put on their uniforms and Yuji brought his dessert to eat during the meeting.

* * *

As they entered, Naomi was furious. "Can someone explain why a band of rebels have a hold of my tech!?"

"It may have to do with the raid made a few weeks ago," Mitsuru replied.

"That's a load of crap and you know it. There's no way they got that many units from that."

"We'll talk with Weapons Development and see if they can do another round of inventory."

"This would've never happened if they didn't 'suggest' my resignation…"

"Sorry about that," Mitsuru said, finally addressing the squad. "We're getting reports of Paragon preparing to infiltrate our facilities. Your mission is to ward them off and keep them from taking this facility."

"Explain to me why they want _this_ boring-ass facility," asked Akio.

"This is the most secure facility we have. What you call be boring, we call functional" Naomi replied. "Plus it offers a great vantage point to onlook from."

"Unfortunately, only Alstroemeria and Satvium are functional." said Mitsuru. "Naomi, what's your progress on converting Strelizia?"

"I was right in the middle when you interrupted me," she replied. "I'll need another hour or so before Yuji and Ruth can be sent in. And we can't use their HATM's in the meantime, since Sinesis and Gypsophila were severely damaged on the last mission."

"So, it's gonna be me and Akio against how many?" Satomi asked.

"Around eight. About four of them are their own special forces." Mitsuru replied. "We're currently arranging for backup to arrive, but it's gonna take some time, so your first priority is to hold them back until Strelizia can be deployed. Dismiss, and good luck."

* * *

"Mayu, what are you seeing?"

The Paragon squad was assembled near the base of the mountain at the edge of the forest. Mayu was surveying the area with binoculars.

"Teams seem to be preparing to launch. Any closer and we're setting ourselves up for an ambush." Mayu replied.

Another slightly older looking man came toward them, "How about we ambush _them_? That would give us both the numbers and element of surprise."

"Good thinking, Takeshi." Hayato replied. "You hang back and find a good vantage point to snipe them with Myrtillus."

Hayato motioned towards a red-haired girl with yellow horns. "Hotaru, head to that nearby hill in Syriacus. You and two of the others will stage the ambush."

"Okay," Hotaru replied.

"The rest will stay with me as we continue to assess the situation," Hayato added. "Let's go."

* * *

Satomi and Akio began loading their HATMs.

"I don't know why we still name our robots after flowers considering the reproductive metaphor is completely lost in a one person unit." Satomi said.

"I just like the name of mine: Alstroemeria," Akio replied.

"Yeah, but on the back of my mind, all I can think about is that my HATM is named after cilantro."

"You worry too much, Satomi."

"And you're too reckless."

"Am I?"

"Alright, quiet you two." Mitsuru chimed in. "Alstroemeria, Satvium, prepare to launch!"

* * *

On the other side of the loading dock, as Satomi and Akio are launching. Yuji and Ruth are waiting as Naomi labors over Strelizia's new power supply.

"What's the status, mom?" Ruth asked.

"Still finishing the battery itself." Naomi replied. "Testing it is gonna be another ballgame. If this craps out in the middle of our operation our squad is SOL. We gotta make sure this works."

"This does not look good." Yuji said. "Those two are out there against at least eight other guys and they're a long way from getting any form of backup."

"I swear. If I find whoever let them take my crap, I'll see that they're transferred to the North Pole," Naomi said.

* * *

Satomi looked at the map on her heads up display. "Our intel said they were supposed to be around this area. So we should be getting close."

"I don't know," said Akio. "We've been surprised before."

"You're not referring to when you forgot to go to the bathroom before a mission, are you?" Satomi replied.

"That's not what I meant!"

"Hang on…" Satomi interrupted. "I think I see something up…WATCH OUT!"

Hotaru in Syriacus had suddenly leapt from the cliffside and attacked them with its sword. Two other Paragon HATM units shortly followed.

Akio pulled out Alstromeria's sword to attack Syriacus.

The other two went after Satomi. She used Satvium's energy shields to block their artillery fire while Akio was clashing against Syriacus.

She found an opening as one of them had to recharge and fired a shotgun blast to tear one of the two goons apart.

Akio was struggling to get a clean hit on Syriacus. Hotaru put up a fierce offense and it took most of his strength just to defend against her attacks. However. He found a brief window and he took it to break from Syriacus and rush the second grunt that accompanied it.

"Now, pilot. It's 2 to 1," where's the rest of your friends?" Akio asked as he and Satomi surrounded Syriacus.

He got his answer as he heard a loud rifle shot from far away. Akio barely escaped the sniper shot from Takeshi and Myrtilllus from a distance away.

This was gonna be more difficult than they thought.


	3. Cast of Characters

Squad 00

Typically chosen from the top ten pilots from the academy. Commando strike force chosen for critical missions

 **Ruth**

Ranking: 004

Hair: Blonde, medium length, slightly curly

Eyes: Green

Description: Commander of Squad 00, pilot of Gypsophila, copilot of Strelizia, loyal friend

 **Yuji**

Ranking: ?

Hair: Silver, normal length, teal horns

Eyes: Blue, teal accents

Description: Klaxo sapien, transferred from Weapons development, pilot of Sinensis, pilot of Strelizia, mysterious, sweet tooth

 **Satomi**

Ranking: 006

Hair: Dark brown, long, usually kept in low twin tails

Eyes: Brown

Description: pilot of Satvium, easily frustrated

 **Akio**

Ranking: 009

Hair: Dirty blonde, spiked

Eyes: Yellow

Description: pilot of Alstroemeria, motormouthed

* * *

Paragon

Band of revolutionaries attempting to perform a coup of the government in response to cover-up of recent attacks by VIRM

 **Hayato**

Ranking: 019

Hair: Black

Eyes: Red

Description: Commander of Paragon, pilot of Centifolia, serious and loyal

 **Mayu**

Ranking: 033

Hair: Brown, short

Eyes: Blue

Description: pilot of Plumerius, friendly, joined because of Hayato

 **Takeshi**

Ranking: 012

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Brown

Description: Pilot of Myrtillus, expert strategist, experienced

 **Hotaru**

Ranking: ?

Hair: Crimson, long, yellow horns

Eyes: Gold, yellow accents

Description: Another klaxo sapien, pilot of Syriacus, ace pilot, stoic


	4. Duel in the Forest

"Get clear of the sniper!" Akio exclaimed to Satomi right after Takeshi has the first sniper shot at them.

Satomi quickly moved towards a nearby ledge, narrowly dodging yet another shot, into the forest.

"Where is he?" she asked as she fled into the forest, in the general direction of where she heard the shot from

* * *

"Damn. She's quick." Takeshi said

"You get her?" Hayato asked over the radio.

"No," Takeshi replied. "They scraped past both of them and one has fled into the forest."

"Do you have a shot on the second one?"

"The other one is clashing with Hotaru, if I make another crack at him, I risk taking her out."

"If you have a clear shot, take it."

* * *

Naomi was listening to the radio while working on Strelizia. It was discussing Senate meetings concerning military action on reported VIRM attacks, especially in light of the uprisings, including Paragon, that have risen in the eager wait for a response.

"So, what's the deal with these revolutionaries anyway?" Ruth asked.

"Apparently there was a squad of pilots supposedly attacked by a VIRM ambush. Only one survived." Naomi replied. "That one ended up helping found Paragon."

Mitsuru, holding a cup of coffee, and Kokoro came in. "The military has been cautious about VIRM activity, and I believe they came up at one point while planning the last mission," he added. "They have been quite tight-lipped about this, probably to keep panic down."

"And, ironically, that's caused even more panic." Yuji replied.

"That's the thing about all the societal development we've had the past 20 years," said Mitsuru, "The further we go, the more controversy we have to deal with."

Kokoro was examining Strelizia while the two were talking. "Oh, this really takes me back…"

"You haven't seen it action." Naomi replied. "Just as badass as it used to be. I just need to finish retrofitting a new core."

"Other than the more generic design, The HATMs look and function virtually identical to these old models," said Mitsuru. "but in the right hands, FRANXX like this unit definitely have more raw power. I witnessed it firsthand when we were attacked last mission."

"As accessible as I made the new models," Naomi added. "There are things they just couldn't replace. Especially the emotional energy these things could utilize."

* * *

Satomi continued to go through the forest trying to find the sniper.

Meanwhile, Akio was still clashing with Hotaru, struggling to defend against Syriacus' fierce offense. "You found him?" he asked Satomi, his voice straining.

"I have an idea of how to track him, but you won't like it."

"Throw it out."

"I need you to make yourself open so he can take a shot. That way I can pinpoint where he shows up on my radar."

"Aye aye," he said nervously.

He followed through by using reversing Alstroemeria's thrusters to get out of range of Hotaru's Syriacus.

Hotaru grinned

With that, Takeshi took the bait and fired. Expecting it, Akio made evasive maneuvers around Syriacus, but not without the shot grazing Alstromeria, hitting one of the antennae.

"Shit! It got my radio!" Akio said, with Satomi's feed cutting out before the word "radio"

"Akio!" she exclaimed. "Dammit. If I just killed him, I'm finished!" she added, burying her head in the dash.

In the chaos, she almost forgot to check her radar, and as a ray of hope, caught the last glimpse of where the blip of Takeshi's shot was. She zipped towards the mountain where it was located.

* * *

"Did you get him?" Hayato asked Takeshi.

"Just barely, I think I caused some damage to his HATM."

"I will take it from here. I'm closing in on their location. Be on the lookout for the second one. It may be looking for you."

* * *

After losing his radio antennae, Akio noticed his HUD starting to glitch out, making it difficult for him to see his opponent.

As Hotaru kept pressing on the offensive, it was getting more and more difficult to block Syriacus' attacks.

She began to notice this and began to relax Syriacus, preparing to make the final blow.

Out of frustration, Akio kicked the console. That somehow managed to clear out the static, allowing him to notice the opening Syriacus made.

Akio swung Alstromeria's sword right at Syriacus' arms as she was about to take out his power supply, knocking the opponent's weapon right out of its hands.

"I don't know how I'm going to negotiate terms of surrender inside the cockpit without the radio." Akio said to himself "I'm probably gonna have to go outside."

Before he had a chance to open the cockpit hatch, his brief victory was cut short by four other Paragon cronies.

* * *

Naomi had finally completed the new power supply for Strelizia and had lifted it into place.

"Alright. Let's fire it up," said Naomi.

Yuji and Ruth got into the cockpit and sure enough, Strelizia booted up without a hitch.

"If my calculations are correct, Strelizia's power supply should last a lot longer," said Naomi. "Possibly strengthen its power too."

"We've already lost too much time as it is," said Mitsuru. "We'll have to send them now."

"But we still have diagnostics to run before it can be sent out." Naomi replied.

"The two have been separated and I just got word that Akio has been outnumbered 5:1," said Mitsuru

"That's worse than I thought…" Naomi commented. "You two. We're going to have to test it in the field. If anything goes wrong, inform me as soon as possible and don't escalate the situation by stressing the unit when it does happen."

"Will do, Mom," Ruth assured her.

"Prepare for launch!" said Mitsuru. "Immediately go and back up Akio! I have marked his location on your radar."

* * *

"Have you been able to hail his radio?" Mayu asked Hayato.

"No. That unit won't show up on my connections," he replied.

Akio, tired of this standoff where nothing was happening, opened his hatch. "Yo. My radio got shot out!" he said. "We'll have to talk this out in person."

One of the HATM's, Hayato's Centrifolia, moved up and opened its hatch. "I accept." Hayato said, "Do you wish to surrender?"

"Well, looks like I don't have much of a choice…" Akio replied begrudgingly, scanning the five units surrounding him.

"The two of you. Go after the other one." Hayato ordered.

The two mooks began to move towards the forest. However, as they were making their advance, they noticed a formidable opponent…

"Strelizia!?" one of the mooks exclaimed before both of their units were destroyed with one stroke of its lance, forcing them to eject.

Mayu charged at Strelizia in Plumerius as Hayato closed his hatch to reboot Centrifolia.

Hotaru made a beeline towards where Syriacus' sword had dropped. As she went to get that, Hayato and Akio started to fight, with Centrifolia using its spear to block Alstromeria's sword blow.

Akio decided this would be the perfect opportunity to use his secret weapon. He pulled down the trigger button and thrusters on his sword applied more downward force, cutting straight through Centrifolia's spear.

Before Hayato could make a counterattack, Akio used his upward strike to take out Centrifolia's left arm, which prompted Hayato to eject.

* * *

Satomi was closing in on Takeshi's location.

"I see her," Takeshi said on his radio as Satvium emerged from the forest.

He was waiting for her to get closer so he could get a good shot. He noticed Satvium had a railgun on its left arm, so one shot was going to decide this.

Both were at an impasse. Fire too soon and they may miss, giving the other a big opening for them to decimate them. Fire too late and they will already have taken them out.

Satomi began to aim Satvium's arm railgun. Both of their sniper-spec HATM's had "goggles" above the "face" that allowed them to focus in closer through a periscope camera in the cabin. As soon as Satomi was able to get a good look at about where Myrtillus' power supply was, she made the call to take the shot.

Takeshi decided to take his around the same time. However, both highly-trained snipers aimed at approximately the same trajectory, causing Myrtillus' sniper round and Satvium's slug to intersect and explode in midair.

"Well, will you look at that?" he remarked.

After about ten seconds, both were able to take another shot. This one was even more critical. Takeshi aimed through his periscope and targeted Satvium's power supply.

This time, Satomi was much quicker to the punch. She fired her railgun, this time directly at his gun. As he fired, the gun exploded in Myrtillus' hands. He managed to back off and avoid most of the damage, except for some minor damage to his HATM's arm.

"Tsk. I need to get out of here," he said.

As he was trying to escape, he heard another sniper round in the distance.

"We need to retreat. Their reinforcements are arriving!" he said on the radio as a sniper round hit Myrtillus directly and he is forced to eject.

* * *

Mayu's Plumerius attacked Strelizia with arm-mounted energy blasts, which he managed to dodge through liberal use of the thrusters.

"How you doing back there?" Yuji asked Ruth.

"It's definitely faster," she replied. "We should definitely have enough to blow right through that HATM."

"Well hang on, then!" he replied, turning the thrusters to full blast and aiming Strelizia's lance directly ahead as Plumerius braced itself with a deflector shield.

However, right before they reached Plumerius, they suddenly lurched forward. "What happened?" Yuji asked.

"One of the thrusters backfired. Must have gave it too much," Ruth replied.

Strelizia quickly recuperated and swung its lance at the slightly shorter Plumerius. It blocked it and brandished two arm blades, which Strelizia blocked with its lance

Meanwhile, Hotaru and Akio were back at each other. She started off by attacking with the thrusters on Syriacus' own sword, which Akio narrowly dodged.

Akio began to go fiercer on the offense, still high on the adrenaline from defeating Centrifolia, catching Hotaru off guard.

However, as Mayu and Hotaru noticed several units getting closer and closer to their location, they had to break off from their fights and retreat.

"Satomi. We're done here," Ruth said on the radio.

" **Is Akio alright!?** " Satomi asked.

"Yes…" Ruth replied.

"Oh, thank God."

* * *

A few minutes later, Satomi rendezvoused with Akio, Ruth, and Yuji, who were all out of their units. The reinforcements had finally arrived as well, with the sniper who defeated Myrtillus talking with Mitsuru.

"It's so good to see you, Ai," Mitsuru said to her.

"You too, Father."

Satomi caught Akio off guard as she violently hugged him.

"Don't ever scare me like that again," she said

"I just said my radio was out."

"Oh," Satomi replied, disappointed. "That's what the sniper took out."

"Is Strelizia in one piece?" Mitsuru asked Yuji.

"Yes, but the power supply still needs work. I'll talk to Naomi later about this."

* * *

Back at Paragon's base, Takeshi had just got off the phone.

"Our supplier isn't too pleased about how many units we ended up losing," he said. "But he said that the data we got on that FRANXX unit is more than satisfactory for our project."

"Good," Hayato said. "That was the primary reason for our mission anyway."

"I guess I won't be joining you three on the next mission due to the extent of Myrtillus' damage?"

"Correct. Centrifolia should be repaired by then, but Myrtillus will take much longer. If we want to gain the favor of the people, this enemy should be our priority."


	5. Interlude in the City

"Alright. What do we have here?"

"No clue, Director Goro," another scientist replied. "This technology isn't anything like we've encountered."

"Any similarities to what we _have_ seen before?" Goro replied.

"It may be some satellite. I don't know,"

Goro's phone started ringing. "Hey Wifey. How are things?"

"Alright until you called me that…" Ichigo replied. "How's the dig going at the attack site?"

"We managed to find…something," Goro replied, glancing at the black-ish purple obelisk discovered at the site. "Our best guess is that it's some satellite."

"Well that's useful…" Ichigo crassly replied. "Get some pictures of it and I'll have Naomi take a look at it. She and Squad 00 will be in the area in the next couple days anyway."

"Alright," Goro replied. "Get photographers over here!" he added as he motioned to the rest of his Archaeological team.

* * *

The squad entered the operation room. The room was already occupied by Mitsuru and another officer. Per usual, Yuji was still snacking.

"I assume you are all familiar with Director Katsuro from Weapons Development," said Mitsuru.

"I'm not," Akio replied. Everyone stared at him and they paid him no mind.

"I just want to tell you all 'great job' on your last mission," said Director Katsuro. "and that your presence has been requested with the Prime Minister."

"We will have lunch tomorrow with her at around 1130 tomorrow afternoon." Mitsuru added. "We will leave around 0900 tomorrow morning. Dismissed."

As the rest of the squad left. Naomi went up to Mitsuru and Director Katsuro.

"She told me that she wants to meet with you personally. She has some photos she wants you to observe," Katsuro told her.

"Spare me the formalities," Naomi replied. "We've been good friends all our lives. I intend to pay her a visit anyway."

"Well, there _are_ strict security protocols…" the director said.

"While we're on the subject of 'security,' would you care to explain why the hell several of our units fell into the hands of revolutionaries?"

"That is classified information," the director replied "However, since you're the _former_ director. I'll let you in a bit."

He pulled out a USB drive from a pocket on his uniform. "This is security footage from around the time the incident took place."

He pulled up the footage up on the large display. "They managed to cut the primary feed and the initial file. Luckily, that's why we have the backup." The camera focused on the entrance door showed a man walking in to the facility.

"Why was he able to walk into the facility so easily?" Naomi asked.

"The PM was hosting an event that night, so security was lessened," Katsuro replied.

He fast-forwarded through the footage. "As you can see, several of his cronies entered later to deliver the shipment, pulling it off under the cover of a military drill."

"Who's the first one that entered earlier?" Mitsuru asked.

He pulled up another file. A profile. "Takeshi. Relatively young during First Contact, at the time known as Code 012, but later became one of the first to join the new Military. While not old enough to vividly remember the first attack, he took the surprise VIRM attack on his squad personally enough that he defected and helped form Paragon. You may remember him as one of the snipers that attacked your squad."

"How did no one manage to figure out what was happening before or after the theft?" Naomi asked.

"That's what we're trying to figure out ourselves. We lost the backups for the outside feed."

"Well, you better do it quickly or WD will have hell to pay from the public."

"Don't fret, Naomi. We're working as fast as we can…"

* * *

The squad members returned to the barracks and began packing for the next morning's trip.

Akio was trying to communicate with Yuji. "Hey. You did good the other day."

"I should be the one commending you. I'm surprised you managed to stay on your toes under all of that pressure. Very impressive."

" _He said something good about me…"_ Akio squealed internally.

"Are you alright?" Yuji asked. "You look like you're having a nervous breakdown."

And with that, Akio's spirits were shattered. He stood up suddenly. "I'mfine!"

Yuji then started to burst out laughing and Akio eventually joined him.

* * *

Takeshi was examining the heavily-damaged Myrtillus in Paragon's warehouse.

Hayato came up to him. "Are you sure you don't just want a new model? The damage is rather substantial."

"No," he replied. "That's tantamount to admitting defeat."

"I just got off the phone with the Supplier. If we make an order now, we can have a unit for you in time for the mission."

"No. That's not it. I just wanna make sure that next time I see that HATM I fought earlier, its pilot will be sent to the grave."

Hayato moved closer to confront him, "Takeshi. We've talked about this. We are not just here to kill people. If we do, we become no better than a terrorist organization, one of which we are planning to take on right now. The moment you bring that attitude to the battlefield is the moment you become my enemy."

With that, Hayato left him be.

* * *

"We will be arriving in New Tokyo in about 20 minutes…"

Even though it had been only 20 years since humanity began to rebuild society as it once was, it was beginning to display that hustle and bustle that Tokyo was once known for.

They were given some time in downtown before they had lunch with the Prime Minister.

Naturally, Yuji straight away bought a gyro from a food stand.

"You do realize we're eating again in an hour, right?" Akio inquired.

"Bhut ahm hungreh…" he replied, while eating.

"You seriously asked _Yuji_ that question?" Satomi asked.

"I haven't been to Tokyo in so long!" Ruth said. "It changed so much since I last came here!"

Yuji swallowed part of his gyro. "There's one part that hasn't,"

He pointed to a solitary cherry blossom tree. "That."

"Oh yeah, the Ash Tree…" Satomi replied. "I've read all about that."

"I have fond memories of that tree…" Yuji added, before taking another bite of his gyro.

"How so?" Ruth asked.

Yuji's mind went blank. "I can't remember…It's been, like, 10 years since I've played in the area where this square is now."

"If they were so fond, they why can't you recall?" Akio snarked. His answer was an elbow jab in the stomach courtesy of Satomi.

Shortly afterwards, they were taken to the Bird's Nest on the outskirts of New Tokyo. They were escorted to a conference room where the Prime Minister was waiting for them.

"Good afternoon," said Ichigo.

Food was already prepared, much to the delight of Yuji.

As they were eating, Ichigo said, "This has already been said already, but you have done an outstanding job the other day defending that facility from Paragon. Particularly under those circumstances you were under."

She motioned towards Mitsuru, "Weren't you only running about half of the squad for most of the battle?"

"Yes. We had come across an FRANXX unit, but it needed a replacement power supply. Until we could get that up and running, we could only run Alstroemeria and Satvium."

"Speaking of Alstroemeria, I was particularly impessed by Akio holding his own against such a skilled pilot as Subject 2."

"Thank you." Akio responded

"There was a Subject 2?" Yuji responded.

"How could you forget? I heard you two were raised together." Ichigo responded. "It's been a few years since she vanished but surely you can recall growing up together."

Yuji excused himself from the table.

"But we haven't even had dessert yet!" Akio exclaimed.

"I'll be right back," said Ruth, following Yuji.

"You know something's up when his first priority isn't food…" Satomi said.

Yuji was on the balcony looking out distantly on the skyline

As Ruth entered, she asked him, "What's the matter? Is it about this Subject 2?"

"I don't understand why my mind's decided to go all fuzzy for no reason," he responded. "First the tree, now this Subject 2."

"It's alright, Yuji," she responded. "You're smart. You'll figure it out."

"I have a strange feeling that someone's trying to hide something from me."

"That can't be true, Yuji."

"I hope you're right."

As they were talking, Akio walked up behind them, startling Yuji. "You may want this," he said, handing him a plate of chocolate cake. Satomi was close behind.

"Oh thanks," Yuji replied.

"We got your back, Yuu," Akio added.

"Yeah, we're not in the 'nickname' phase of our friendship yet…" he responded, holding out the hand he was holding his fork with.

"Okay." Akio responded.

* * *

As the rest of the squad was leaving the conference room. Naomi followed Ichigo into her office.

"So. How do you deal with the stresses of being the PM?" Naomi asked.

Ichigo opened a drawer to reveal a bottle of scotch.

Naomi chuckled, "I see."

"I try to limit it to special occasions like us getting to chat," she responded. "But I find myself having to crack it out for myself more and more as I have to deal with shit like all of these revolutionaries and terrorist groups that are popping up more and more."

"And I thought things were supposed to get easier as society is getting rebuilt," Naomi commented.

"Ain't that the truth?" Ichigo responded as she poured out a drink for herself and Naomi.

"So, what was the real reason you wanted to see me?"

"Part of the reason the Squad is being sent to Okinawa," Ichigo said as she handed her the pictures that Goro took of the obelisk.

"What's this?" asked Naomi

"It's some strange technology found at the site of the first VIRM attack since their planet was bombed eighteen years ago." Ichigo replied. "I was hoping you could give us some insight on what this is."

"Looks like some satellite," Naomi commented.

"We've assumed as much…" Ichigo replied.

"If VIRM left this on where they attacked," Naomi added, "My thinking is that they are planning to use this to communicate with whatever remnants are left after the VIRM planet was destroyed."

"If that's the case, then we better get to the bottom of this before they bring even more of their friends."

"It will be more of a threat than the terrorists, that's for damn sure."

* * *

A few days later, the squad was transported to Okinawa, where they would be staying for the next few days.

After their dropship landed in the nearby airstrip, they were driven in a van to where they would be staying. Their residence appeared to be an old-school mansion that was right next to the beach.

"Now _that's_ what I'm talking about!" said Akio.

"It's a complete replica of Mistilteinn, where my old squad lived," said Mitsuru. "While off-duty, it's available to rent for those vacationing on the beach. However, the Military will also use it for housing if need be. In our case, we're here to investigate alleged terrorist _and_ VIRM activity in the area."

"Well that's a mouthful for us," said Yuji.

"I never imagined we'd have access to a vintage beach house for this mission," Satomi commented.

"Well, we have the next couple days off for our efforts on the last mission," Ruth added, "So let's enjoy this to the fullest!"

* * *

Hotaru was sitting around in the middle of the night in a break room.

"Can't sleep either?" said Mayu, entering the break room as well.

"Something's on my mind," Hotaru replied. "Even though I never saw the pilots of that FRANXX we fought the other day, I keep getting the sinking feeling one of them is someone I should know."

"You think he's someone from your past?"

"Possibly. I have trouble remembering what led to me joining you in the fight. That's probably the reason for the lack of motivation that Takeshi always nags me about."

"Don't let him get to you. I look up to your skills in piloting just as much as Hayato's leadership."

"Thanks, Mayu," Hotaru replied. "So, is Takeshi not joining us?"

"Yes. He's too stubborn to let go of his old HATM. It will be just us two plus Hayato."

"That will be enough…"


	6. A Vacation Cut Short

As their grand tour of the Beach House drew to a close, they went out the back doors to the porch and a patio leading out onto the beach. On either side of them are the cliffsides that on their left lead into the forest, and on their right lead to their facilities such as the Loading Dock, offices, and locker rooms.

"Wow! The beach is so pretty!" exclaimed Akio.

"Yeah. Yuji is missing out," Satomi replied. "Where is he?"

"He's still on that call with Director Katsuro and Ichigo," Ruth answered.

"He's been antsy about that Subject 2 ever since we had Lunch at the Bird's Nest," Satomi commented. "I would be worried about the competition."

"No. I don't think it's that," Ruth replied. "It's like she's his long lost childhood friend or…" she put her hand on her chin, "maybe even a sister."

"Y'know. What _is_ Yuji anyway?" Akio asked.

"What he is, is missing out," Satomi replied, pulling off her shirt to reveal a blue swimsuit top, surprising Akio to say the least.

"What? You haven't changed yet?" Ruth asked, folding her clothes up on the patio table, also in a much frillier green swimsuit.

"I'll be right back…" he replied, making his way to the Locker Room, having just been embarrassed by two girls in cute swimsuits.

* * *

"So, what you're saying is," Yuji said. "you have no idea what happened to Subject 2."

"That's correct," Katsuro replied.

"Yuji, I know you're frustrated," Ichigo commented. "I am too. Our intelligence unit _should_ be able to keep better track of stuff like this."

"Is that shade I'm picking up, PM?" said Katsuro.

"Yes, in fact, it is, Director." Ichigo replied.

"If there is _anything_ you haven't told me yet, let me have it," said Yuji.

"Yuji, that's not how intelligence works," Katsuro replied. "And besides, even if I _was_ free to give away potential government secrets, the fact of the matter is we are still trying to figure out the situation with her."

"Go join the rest of your squadmates on the beach," Ichigo commented. "I assure you that you'll feel better."

With that, the call ended. Naomi came in and said, "If it's any consolation. I'm slightly confused myself. I practically raised you and I don't remember Subject 2 that well."

"Now that you mention it You also 'practically raised' Ruth as well."

"You do bring up a good point. If that was the case, your meeting in the cave shouldn't have been your first."

"Well anyway, have you made the modifications to Strelizia's battery?"

"I updated the heat shielding so it will be less likely to misfire and go into 'limp home mode' like last time."

"Very good."

"I agree with Ichigo. The beach should help you take your mind off things."

He went into the Locker Room and Akio was already there, changing.

Yuji took off his uniform pants, revealing swim trunks underneath.

"You wore swim trunks to a call with Director Katsuro and the Prime Minster?" Akio asked.

"Yeah. Why?" Yuji responded.

"That just feels wrong somehow. Also, why am I the only one he didn't get the memo about wearing our swimsuits?"

"We're on a beach," Yuji replied, putting on a Hawaiian shirt and folding up his uniform shirt.

"Good point. But did you **_see_ **Ruth and Satomi's swimsuits?"

Yuji stared at him and Akio chuckled nervously. Yuji responded with a smile and a slight chuckle himself.

* * *

Satomi rushed into the water and began wading farther down. Ruth was much more hesitant.

"Come on in, the water's great!" Satomi said.

"I'm not that great a swimmer."

"I've always gotten the impression you lived a quite sheltered life."

"Perhaps. I might not be as gung-ho as you or Akio is." Ruth responded, moving a bit deeper into the water. "I was actually planning to join the Police force after graduating from the Academy before I was convinced to join the Military."

"Well it's a good thing you didn't." Satomi replied. "I assume you've heard about that recent ring of dirty cops that were discovered."

"I've heard something about that. Did they get apprehended?"

"Apparently. They haven't released the identities of the suspects though," Satomi replied, as she began to chuckle as Akio was right behind Ruth, about to attempt to push her further in.

Before Akio could do anything, however, Ruth managed to get a hold on Akio and flung him past Satomi.

Yuji burst out laughing at this, especially since he was the one who suggested to him to try pushing her. When Akio surfaced he exclaimed, "Since when did you learn that wrestling move!?"

"I was part of the Martial Arts Club while we were at the Academy, remember?" Ruth replied.

"She was a beast," Satomi replied.

Akio flung water at Satomi, who responded with an even stronger fling at him, knocking him back underwater.

"Dummy. You of all people should at least remember I was captain of the Swim Team," Satomi commented.

"Thanks for getting all of your extra-curriculars straight." Akio responded. "What did you do in your spare time, Yuji?"

"Reading," Yuji responded, sitting on a beach towel under an umbrella, drinking juice as he witnesses the chaos unfold.

"Really? I expected it to be eating," Akio said, getting another splash in the face for his troubles.

"You manage to find out anything?" Ruth asked Yuji.

"Nope," he responded "If anything I'm even more confused."

"How so?"

He was hesitant to ask about how she would figure in to this whole situation and was about to ask something before they heard a suspicious crushing noise in the distance.

"I'm going after it," said Akio, and began running off towards the Loading Dock.

"Hang on, Akio!" exclaimed Ruth "We don't know what that is!"

"If it's nothing, then there's no point in wasting anyone else's time," said Akio. "I'm just gonna check it out!"

* * *

"Okay. This is where the People's Army for Liberation is headquartered," said Hayato, highlighting a building on the map on their HUD's. "Surrounding it are three camps. We'll need to take them out before focusing on the leader."

"Understood," Hotaru replied.

"What about Squad 00?" Mayu commented, "They took camp at a beach house nearby."

"How did you find that out?" Hayato asked.

"You asked me to do research, remember?" Mayu replied. "Anyway, it looks like they're just on vacation for now, so if anything, we're making their job easier."

"Irony is fun," Hotaru remarked.

"Well, we must act quickly then before they potentially get in the way," said Hayato.

* * *

Akio went into the forest alone with Alstroemeria. He had put a marker on his HUD on roughly the area where he had heard the noise from.

"It's probably nothing," he said. "I've wasted enough time here. I promised I would be done in half an hour. The beach is calling me back!"

Just as he said this, several guys in combat armor emerged from the trees armed with machine guns and rocket launchers. They were closely followed by trucks with mounted guns.

" _Who the hell are they? They sure aren't military,"_ Akio thought to himself. "Identify yourselves!" He exclaimed on the outside radio.

One of the goons motioned towards another and pushed a switch. All of a sudden, he was unable to control Alstroemeria as it experienced a power surge. Apparently, he had walked right into a remote EMP trap. He had no choice but to surrender to them.

* * *

"That dumbass!" Satomi exclaimed. "It's been 90 minutes and he's still gone!"

"I hope he at least informed you of this hair-brained plan of his." Ruth commented to Mitsuru.

"More or less," he replied. "I gave him the green light, but I did say that the rest would have to follow up with him if it takes more than half an hour."

"It's been longer than _that_ for sure…" Yuji replied.

"Go into the forest and catch up with him." Mitsuru said. "Hopefully, he won't have gotten himself into _too much_ trouble."

"Knowing Akio, he probably _has_ ," Satomi remarked.

* * *

One of the goons ripped off the blindfold from Akio's eyes to reveal he was brought to an office. His arms were still tied. The office looked quite opulent, like it's main purpose to intimidate the occupant's enemies and show just who the hell they were dealing with.

"Have a seat, Akio," a rather heavyset man said in a likely deceptively friendly tone.

Akio was guided to a seat in front of the man.

"That was a very nice piece of equipment you had there," he said.

Silence from Akio.

"Well then," the man added. "My name is Takahiro. I am the boss of the People's Army of Liberation."

"Your boys were pretty aggressive for a terrorist organization named PAL," Akio responded.

"Let's not be hasty," Takahiro responded. "Aside from your Hydrogen All-Terrain Mech, all that we need from you is the coordinates to where the rest of your crew are,"

"You aren't getting a damn thing," Akio responded.

Takahiro picked up a cigar. "I've heard that one before," he said as he cut the cigar and lit it. "If you don't want you and your squads' families to be involved in this, I suggest you do what I ask."

"As opposed to the other families you have involved in your attacks? Don't bullshit me."

He tapped off the ashes from his cigar, "Our mission has always been to send a message to the people that their government isn't suited to rule. A message that VIRM simply hasn't sent yet. Eventually, the public will know the truth: that the strong should be the ones to rule."

"Well good luck with that," Akio responded right before a large bang happened right outside.

All of the guards rushed out in response. Takahiro hesitated, but he quickly followed them out. Akio ran against the wall for cover with his hands still tied.

After a few moments, it got quiet. He then began to hear voices.

"Did we get the leader?"

"No. He managed to run off."

"Check the office. Someone might be still in there,"

Akio had a brief moment of relief, thinking his squad had come to rescue him. However, someone else entirely entered the office, replacing his look of relief with fear.

"Well I'll be damned," said Mayu. "Long time, no see."

Hotaru came in after her. " _Wait. Another one!?"_ Akio thought as he saw Hotaru's yellow horns.

"Look, it's that guy who caused you all that trouble earlier," Mayu said.

Hotaru pulled out a knife. Akio's look of fear then turned to dread.

"Hold out your hands…" Hotaru said to him.

Akio look of dread then turned to confusion. Hotaru then cut through the restraints. "Congratulations. You're rescued," she said. Mayu chuckled.

Hayato walked in. Akio now recognized that he was just being saved by the group he had been fighting earlier. "Small world. Isn't it?" Hayato said.

"I guess so…" Akio said.


	7. Class 00

[3 Years Prior]

It was a big day for Akio. The results of the Pilot Academy Entrance Exam were about to be posted. It not only had a written exam to test the candidates' knowledge, but the most important part was the piloting test.

Middle School students had a chance to learn the basics of being a pilot, and for those who wanted to go on to Pilot Academy after graduating Middle School would have to put those skills to the test.

" _I hope I didn't do too badly…_ " he thought to himself. " _Didn't feel too good about the written portion. But I felt a little better about the pilot test._ "

Judging by that logic, he suspected he would be somewhere in the middle.

He spent forever trying to look for his name among the hundreds of applicants.

"Having trouble finding your name, young man?" a staff member asked him.

"Yeah, I'm looking for 'Akio,'" he replied.

"Try looking up there,"

The staff member had pointed near the top of the list. The first two were redacted for some reason, and he continued looking down

003 Airi

004 Ruth

005 Makoto

006 Satomi

007 Shinobu

008 Rin

" **009\. Akio."**

"Will you look at that? You managed to make it into my class," the staff member said, "I'm Nori. I'm the Homeroom Teacher for Class 0."

Akio looked in amazement, and then looked at his watch, which turned that into fear. "Oh crap. I'm running late!"

"Don't worry. I'm running late as well," Nori replied. "I decided to run a few errands before my first day and got a little sidetracked. It won't be so bad when we're late together."

As they walked in, just as the bell rung, there were six other students in the room. There were three students in the front and four in the back.

"Airi? Is that the one student who beat your score on the Pilot Test?" a female student in the middle of the front row whispered to the student next to her.

"Probably." Airi replied. "But I made #3, and process of elimination means he's #9. So he must be not that bright if the written test brought his rank that far down."

"Feel free to take a seat next to Satomi," Nori said, pointing to the leftmost seat on the front row.

Satomi looked less than thrilled.

After a few hours of your typical lectures, they got to the highlight of the day – the scrimmage match.

They met at an old airstrip located on campus and Nori gave them instructions.

"You'll be fighting with training units," he explained. "Each team will consist of three players, which means I need one of you to volunteer to help me referee."

Ruth raised her hand.

"Shinobu, how about you?"

A curly-haired redhead girl responded in surprise, "Sure, Nori-sensei."

Shinobu walked over to where Nori was standing in front of them.

"Okay, Red Team…" Nori announced. "will consist of Airi, Makoto, and Rin. You three stand there to my left."

As they walked to where Nori pointed, he announced the other team. "Blue Team will be Ruth, Satomi, and Akio."

They moved to the opposite side of where Team 1 was.

"Each team will have three training units: An Assault class, a Sniper class, and a Knight class," explained Nori. "While the Assault and Sniper only have air rifles and the Knight's sword is a blunt training blade, these units have pressure sensors on each of their limbs that, when hit, will cause that limb to be disabled. In addition, hitting a sensor on the core will shut the unit down entirely.

Each team's hangar is on opposite sides of the airstrip. Each team has a flag. The winner will be the one who carries the enemy team's flag to your own hangar. You will have fifteen minutes to choose your units and plan strategy. Good luck."

Blue Team began their planning period.

"Why didn't Nori-sensei notice me volunteering for assistant ref?" Ruth commented as she and Satomi entered.

"He probably needed your brains to balance out Akio's stupidity…" Satomi replied.

"Well, if he made it in this class, he probably isn't _that_ stupid."

As Ruth said that, Akio was trying (and failing) to push open the door.

"You're supposed to pull it." Ruth said.

"Oh, my bad," Akio said as he finally got himself in.

The three misfit team members took a long moment staring at the three Training Units

"So, who's taking which one?" Satomi asked.

"I call dibs on the one with the sword!" Yuji declared.

"Yeah, it fits his personality because it's primitive," Satomi muttered as he went over to the Knight class.

"I'll just take the Assault class as that looks the most straightforward," said Ruth.

"I guess I'm the Sniper then…" Satomi concluded.

In the Press Box, Shinobu asked a question, "I don't mean to be rude, Nori-sensei, but didn't Ruth volunteer for this?"

"I specifically wanted to pair her up with Ruth."

"What? Because you think they have potential as a couple?"

"No. It's not about matchmaking!... While she did quite well on the pilot test, she really shined on the written test with the highest score so it's obvious she has quite the logical skill. Akio on the other hand did merely average on the written test but made up for it by knocking it out of the park on the pilot test."

"So basically, you wanted to match the brains and the brawn."

"And warm Satomi up to her seat partner, yes."

The fifteen-minute period had ended and Akio rushed towards the enemy base.

"Looks like Akio from Blue Team is making the first move!" announced Shinobu.

"A bit of a rash move and definitely not part of any sane strategy," Nori commented. "What goes on in that mind of his is certainly an enigma."

Akio kept charging in until he heard a shot from far away and narrowly got away from it, taking cover at a nearby building.

"Okay. Not a great plan," he said to himself.

He noticed something else. A button labeled "radio."

He pressed it and immediately heard from "…that dumbass!" from Satomi.

"Sorry. I just realized we had radio," Akio announced on the radio.

"Okay. We need to coordinate from now on," Ruth replied. "Do you know how to turn on GPS tracking on your HUD?"

He found a button labeled "Track", "Now I do."

"Okay, good," said Ruth. "You aren't too far. I'll meet up with you there."

"Watch out for the sniper," Akio commented

"Yeah, no shit." Satomi muttered.

"Stay here and keep watch," Ruth said to Satomi.

Ruth began making her way towards Akio's location when a Red Assault Class charged in from the side behind her.

Akio made quick use of the thrusters to intercept the Red Assault's ambush, zagging right past Ruth and went straight for the core, slashing at the sensor and disabling it instantly.

"Oh! A quick reversal by Akio from the Blue Team, quickly eliminating Makoto from Red before he could get a chance to make a move on Ruth from Blue," commented Nori.

"I can definitely see how he's top of our class in piloting," Shinobu added.

"Thanks, Akio," said Ruth.

"Don't mention it."

"Wow. I'm impressed. You've done something right for once." Satomi remarked.

"Looks like Ruth and Akio from Blue are going through the storage building to make their way closer to Red's base. Satomi is close behind, watching from outside," commented Shinobu.

"They may have drawn first blood, but they still better watch themselves," Nori added. "Airi in particular should be one to look out for."

Ruth and Akio took separate routes through the storage building. Akio reached an open area in the storage when, all of a sudden, he was ambushed by another knight class. It aimed right for his core, but he managed to evade just in time. Unfortunately, he was unable to stop her from disabling his right arm.

"Airi with the ambush on Akio!" Shinobu commented "With only one arm, will he be able to fend her off?"

"This is Akio we're talking about. Anything's possible." Nori responded.

"But don't forget that Airi also scored very highly on the Pilot Exam," said Shinobu

"I wouldn't make a habit of talking back to your teachers like that, young lady." Nori snarked, with a pout from Shinobu in response.

With only one working arm, Akio struggled to defend himself against Airi's furious attacks. Without two arms, he wouldn't be able to get much of a hit off either. Airi had a look of fury on her face. If they had real weapons, she was ready to kill him.

With how hard she was trying to have him eliminated, Akio thought, _"Surely this person must have some vendetta against me. I need to use a skillful technique"_

With that logic, he bolted away towards the exit. "You aren't getting away, you son of a bitch!" Airi said as she followed, not caring that he couldn't hear her.

Akio burst out the exit, followed by Airi. She charged towards Akio, but was quickly stopped as Satomi got a clean shot on her core, disabling her unit.

"Warn me next time you charge out with an enemy following you," Satomi said.

"I'll try," Akio replied.

Ruth came out the same entrance. "I heard some commotion, is everything alright?"

"It is now," he said "Are we clear up ahead, Satomi?"

"Looks like the coast is clear. Don't see number 3 up ahead…" Satomi said, just before seeing a glint in her view. "It's in the hangar door! Get down!"

Right as she was saying that. Her core was shot and disabled.

"Satomi! No!" Akio exclaimed as Ruth's HATM dragged Akio's into the warehouse for cover.

"There is no need for panic," Ruth explained. "We're still ahead 2-1"

"It's not like I can do much against the last one with one arm…" Akio said.

"No, but you can get the flag while I distract it. I'll go ahead and attack it. Go out the back of the warehouse and go around."

Begrudgingly, Akio agreed.

"Looks like Rin from Red Team has the other two Blue Team members in a corner after eliminating Satomi." Shinobu commentated

"If they want to win, the brains and the brawn will have to put their heads together," Nori added.

Ruth charged at full throttle towards the Sniper. "Good thing I read ahead in the textbook," she said as she employed a zig-zag maneuver, making it difficult for Rin to get a clean hit.

She eventually did get a hit off on Ruth, knocking out her right screen, which made it difficult to attack.

However, she was able to see someone coming out from behind the Sniper, thrusting none other the enemy flag into its core and shutting it down.

"And that's all she wrote, folks!" announced Nori. "Blue Team has won!"

All the pilots exited their HATM's. Airi stormed off, visibly fuming, and Satomi rushed up to hug Ruth, yelling "We did it!" She then added, "Get in here you magnificent idiot!" which prompted Akio to nervously join the group hug.

* * *

"So what happened after you guys won that game?" Hotaru asked Akio while she, Mayu, and Hayato were around a fire they had made.

"Well, once we graduated, they announced that they were going to form a squad from three students from class 0, which would become Squad 00," Akio responded. "Which ended up being us three."

"I suppose that Airi fellow wasn't too pleased with the announcement," Mayu commented.

"You remember that Court Pleading a while back?" Hayato responded.

"That bad, huh?" Mayu responded.

"So, Hayato, what's the plan for tomorrow?" asked Hotaru.

"We begin to make our move on PAL's base of operations at dawn," said Hayato. "Mayu found an entrance that's not very heavily guarded so we should be able to slip through there."

"I suppose this plan isn't involving me…" Akio commented.

"No. We're just offering protection for the night," said Hotaru. "Your base should be a few miles Southwest of here. I can mark it on your HUD in the morning."

"Oh, thank you!"

"Don't mention it."

* * *

The next morning, Ruth and Yuji went in Strelizia and began looking around in the forest. Satomi was at a higher vantage point in Satvium.

"Can you see anything, Satomi?" Yuji asked on the radio.

"No sign of the dumbass, other than what looks like an abandoned camp Northeast of here."

"It's our best lead we got," said Ruth.

Strelizia arrived at the abandoned camp and found wrecked military equipment everywhere.

"No mistaking it," Ruth remarked. "This was definitely a PAL camp."

"Can you hack into any nearby computers?" Yuji asked just as several files showed up on his HUD. "Forget I even asked."

"It looks like this camp belonged to the People's Army for Liberation," said Ruth.

"Who names their terrorist organization PAL?" Shinobu commented.

They went through various messages until they uncovered one that had the subject line "gov commando captured, to be questioned"

"It looks like that is Akio…" Ruth remarked.

"That idiot!" Satomi blurted out almost instinctively, suspiciously rubbing her eyes.

"Wait, there's more," added, "the next one says 'camp b attacked, lost custody of prisoner.' It's from an hour later, I knew Akio would be able to weasel his way out of that."

"The question is: where is he now?" commented Yuji.

"Not to interrupt, but I think there's something coming your way…" Satomi interrupted.


	8. A Common Enemy

As Akio began loading Alstroemeria to make the return trip, Hayato remarked, "I assume it would be pointless to try and convince you to join our side?"

"Nope," he replied "The only reason I didn't attack you is that you guys have me outnumbered."

"And the fact that we saved your ass," Mayu added.

"Hey, your name is Hotaru, right?" Akio asked, "You don't happen to know anything about a white-haired klaxo sapien would you?"

Hotaru had to think for a minute as she was boarding Syriacus. "Not really. No. All I know is I was Subject 2 and there was a Subject 1."

"She doesn't even know where the name 'Hotaru' came from," Mayu added.

"Odd."

"Well then," Hayato said, "The next time we meet, it will be as enemies."

Hotaru had just activated Syriacus when she announced. "Hayato! We've got company!"

"What is it? PAL?" Mayu inquired.

"I'm detecting nonhuman signatures," Hotaru replied.

"VIRM!" exclaimed Hayato.

All of a sudden, several bright purple beasts erupted out of the forest. Hotaru was quick on the attack and eliminated several of them in one stroke.

Hayato, Mayu, and, begrudgingly, Akio quickly got ready to join her.

* * *

Yuji and Ruth didn't have much luck either, as a similar group of monsters tried to gang up on Strelizia.

"Okay, let's see what happens if we floor it now with the upgraded heat shielding." Yuji exclaimed.

He brought Strelizia's lance to the front and went full throttle.

"This speed! Definitely an improvement," commented Ruth.

Without hesitation Strelizia plowed through a group of VIRM grunts, causing the majority of them to explode into pieces.

One straggler managed to escape. It tried in vain to make a move on Strelizia but it was stopped by Satvium's railgun.

Then, all of a sudden. One of the larger creatures from before came out of the forest, uprooting the native flora and trees around it.

This would be a tough one, but definitely not one Strelizia hadn't faced before. But this time, Yuji and Ruth didn't have the element of surprise. So they would to think outside the box.

Or they would have if Satvium didn't decimate it in one well-placed railgun shot through a crack in its armor.

"You're welcome…" Satomi said.

* * *

One of the same breed came out to attack Paragon minus Takeshi plus Akio.

"Oh great, now we just have to wait for Strelizia to burst out of the ground again and save us," Akio said in the face of danger.

"Anybody got a plan besides Mr. Wet-the-Bed here?" Mayu inquired.

"No. I got a serious one. Satomi, our team's sniper did a bit of research on the types of VIRM," Akio replied. "The common Zeta class' armor is straightforward. Our weapons can penetrate their armor no problem. But the Gamma class is immune to most weapons except in the gaps in its armor."

"And you're giving us your intel because…" Hotaru asked.

"Cut the chatter. Let's just get this done," Hayato interjected. "Hotaru, Akio – go for the legs and stop it."

Hotaru immediately charged at the left side of the Gamma class. Akio didn't nearly have the same reaction time but went for the right shortly afterward.

As they approached the Gamma, several appendages came out of its side and started to glow purple.

"Oh shit. It has lasers, too."

Hotaru commented, "We're gonna have to leap for that small gap between its leg armor."

She gave a signal and they each used their thrusters to leap at the Gamma's front legs. She aimed Syriacus' sword right at the gap and sliced right through, cutting its leg clean off.

Akio missed. While it lost its balance for a second it was still upright.

A hatch began to open, dropping several Zeta classes to attack.

Mayu's Plumerius and Hayato's Centrifolia joined them underneath. "We've got you covered, Akio. Take out the other leg!" said Hayato.

While they were fighting the Zeta classes, Akio took another crack at the other leg, making more effort to focus on the gap. The effort paid off as he sliced through the leg.

After the confirmed hit, they quickly got out from under the Gamma class as it fell over with a massive thud, crushing all the Zeta classes under it.

"Did we get it?" asked Akio.

"Not quite, but almost," Hayato said.

Then, a large hatch on the Gamma began to open where its "eye" used to be, and began to charge power. If it fired, it meant certain death for them.

"and yet so far," Hotaru commented.

"'Scuse me," Mayu said as Plumerius shoved its way in front of the, firing a laser of its own arm cannon straight through the new opening the Gamma made, creating a massive explosion and blowing the Gamma into violet paste.

Thankfully the gang was far away enough from the blast.

"Remind me never to piss her off…" Hayato remarked.

* * *

From her perch, Satomi noticed the giant explosion, "Someone did a number on another Gamma east of your position,"

"I could feel it," Ruth commented. "We'll check it out."

"We're going to go ahead and take care of the base," said Hayato. "It sounded like someone else had a run-in east of here. Might be your folks."

"See ya," said Akio. "Next time, I'm beating you, Hotaru."

"Unlikely," Hotaru replied.

"If someone asks you, we had no involvement," said Hayato

"I'll just say it was VIRM."

Akio began to head east towards where he saw some signals on his radar. Oddly enough, there was one coming towards him.

"Akio! You made it!" said Ruth.

"Was it you who took out that Gamma class?" Yuji asked through the radio.

"…yes…"

"I would call you an idiot, but I think that's pretty obvious," Satomi commented.

"Yeah. It's not like you've called me that enough already…"

"We found where PAL's base is," said Satomi. "I've marked it on our maps."

* * *

Takahiro had arrived in Kyoto, which PAL had taken over. "I can't believe we got overrun not only by Paragon, but especially VIRM as well," he said. "And how the hell did Paragon get those weapons? You would need a government insider to get a hold of tech like that."

He arrived at his bunker. "We're gonna have to regroup and figure out a contingency plan. Otherwise we're done. We can't let the weapon we have in Kyoto get into government hands."

Arriving at his office, he immediately poured out some scotch to drink. He slammed the bottle on the table, intending to make plenty of refills, when his phone rang.

"What do you want, Supplier,"

"I see you incurred a significant loss," the supplier said, with a distorted voice

"Well maybe if Paragon didn't have access to goddamn HATM's, we wouldn't be in this situation."

"Well, maybe you're not putting two and two together."

"What do you mean?"

As he said that, two of his guards came in. "Can't you see I'm on the phone!?" he exclaimed, putting the phone down for a second.

"Let's just say I have a new customer."

"You hack! Do you know who the hell I am!? You can't double-cross me under the table!"

"Funny… You don't even know who _I am._ But I know you. You were just the first step."

With that, one of the supposed guards pulled out a pistol and shot him through right the heart, knocking him right out of his chair and on to the floor.

* * *

Squad 00 arrived at the location of PAL's base, only to find it in ruins.

"Yup," said Yuji. "Someone's been here…"

"Probably wasn't Paragon," Akio said. "It's not like them to cause this much property damage."

"Since when were you an expert on Paragon?" Satomi asked.

Ruth examined some of the markings on the damaged buildings. "These look like plasma markings. While some units are equipped with plasma weaponry, the damage is too consistent and substantial to be the work of HATM's."

"I think we have a stronger clue than that, Ruth…" said Akio, motioning towards a black-purple obelisk amongst the wreckage.

"Yeah," said Ruth. "I would say that's definitely one."

* * *

Director Katsuro was talking with Naomi in the Beach House meeting room when a secretary came in.

"I just got off the phone with the general," she said. "he said that Kyoto is back under our control."

"Thanks, Yuma," Katsuro said, as she left. "With that, PAL will be but a mere memory."

"That was awfully quick," said Naomi, "We just now got word of them losing the base."

"We're on top of things, here," Katsuro replied.

"We sure are…"

After Naomi said that, Squad 00 entered the meeting room.

"Ah, Akio, Could we talk in private for a few moments?" Katsuro requested, "It's about the nature of your escape."

"That won't be necessary," Mitsuru interrupted as he entered the room, "Intelligence is insisting that remain a secret."

"You know how you are about your 'government secrets,' Director," Naomi commented.

" _Intelligence? Is one of Paragon undercover?_ " Akio pondered.

"I sent you those pictures you requested," Ruth said to Naomi.

"Thanks, Ruth," Naomi replied. "Me and Ichigo will definitely take a look at those.

"Well, it has been determined you will stay here in Okinawa for the forseeable future," Mitsuru said to the squad. "They're determining that this may be a hotspot for activity."

"Yes!" Akio blurted out. Everyone was used to that, so they paid him no mind.

* * *

Hayato was in his room looking at his laptop. "What are you doing?" Mayu asked.

"Researching about this 'weapon' that I heard about that's apparently in Kyoto," he replied. "Why PAL was so intent on guarding it."

"You thinkin' of having us get it?"

"It's too risky to send a full assault. I'll have to go in alone, and without Centrifolia."

"I'll go with you."

"It's too risky. It's just been reoccupied. The public doesn't know our faces, but the military sure as hell does."

Mayu put her hands on the sides of Hayato's face. "We agreed to do this together. Combat or not, if this turns out to be a suicide mission, then you need all the help you can get."

"You're too hard to convince."


End file.
